Spotted this in a Philly shop that frequently features Christian kitsch aimed at an African-American audience in its front window. In case the imagery isn’t brutally clear, a wad of cash + gun = drug dealer. So, according to the artist, a young person’s choices are: (a) be a Christian, or (b) be a drug-dealing street thug. In a city with no shortage of churches in rough neighborhoods, it would be far more accurate to substitute a math book for that bible.

The Little Atheist has been collecting coins in a couple of piggy banks, most recently as rewards for potty training success (in case you’re wondering, the going rate for a poopy is 2 cents). His banks were getting heavy, so we decided to open them up, empty the contents, and start a savings account for future money-teaching purposes. Imagine our surprise when, among the legal tender, we encountered this:

I googled the image, and it is indeed a “guardian angel” coin. We have no idea who put it in there. I strongly expect My Very Catholic Mother-in-Law, but there are certainly other possibilities – my mother, a babysitter, a good friend who dog sits on occasion.

I was a little irritated at first, but now it’s just amusing. The religious are, almost by definition, fairly superstitious, but this just takes it one step further. Do they really think the spirit or essence or something of an angel is held within a cheap little coin? Or does one have to bribe guardian angels to come near with pretty, shiny objects? The whole thing is just too silly.